Metabolomic analysis reveals key metabolites and metabolic pathways in Suaeda salsa under salt and drought stress

Abstract

Suaeda salsa is an important salt- and drought-tolerant plant with important ecological restoration roles. However, little is known about its underlying molecular regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, understanding the response mechanisms of plants to salt and drought stress is of great importance. In this study, metabolomics analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of salt and drought stress on S. salsa. The experiment consisted of three treatments: (1) control (CK); (2) salt stress (Ps); and (3) drought stress (Pd). The results showed that compared with the control group, S. salsa showed significant differences in phenotypes under salt and drought stress conditions. First, a total of 207 and 292 differential metabolites were identified in the Ps/CK and Pd/CK groups, respectively. Second, some soluble sugars and amino acids, such as raffinose, maltopentoses, D-altro-beptulose, D-proline, valine-proline, proline, tryptophan and glycine-L-leucine, showed increased activity under salt and drought stress conditions, suggesting that these metabolites may be responsible for salt and drought resistance in S. salsa. Third, the flavonoid biosynthetic and phenylalanine metabolic pathways were significantly enriched under both salt and drought stress conditions, indicating that these two metabolic pathways play important roles in salt and drought stress resistance in S. salsa. The findings of this study provide new insights into the salt and drought tolerance mechanisms of S. salsa.

Metabolomics reveal root differential metabolites of different root-type alfalfa under drought stress

“…Tryptophan and isoleucine indicated that significantly increase with water deficit stress ( Ignjatovic-Micic et al., 2015 ; Kong et al., 2022 ). However, it has also been demonstrated that only drought-tolerant cultivars have higher tryptophan levels ( Bao et al., 2023 ), and tryptophan metabolites can enhance plant stress resistance under adverse conditions ( Hasnain et al., 2023 ). ABC transporter proteins have certain drought-resistant capabilities under drought stress and provide triacylglycerol to glycerol kinase ( Han et al., 2022 ), which then stimulates the synthesis of sucrose ( Sharma and Nayyar, 2014 ).…”

Untargeted metabolomics reveals anion and organ-specific biochemistry of salinity tolerance in willow

“…This suggests common metabolic strategies to tolerate (anion agnostic) osmotic stress in roots at the root-soil interface and restrict sodium translocation, while leaves might be more susceptible to the (anion dependent) ion toxicity of translocated Cland SO4 2-. The generalised salt response included common accumulation of the phenylpropanoid precursor 2-phenylacetamide in leaves (a salt biomarker in the euhalophyte Suaeda salsa (Bao et al, 2023)), protective molecules in stems such as the anthocyanin ternatin C5 (Kovinich et al, 2015) and a highly antioxidative coumaric acid conjugate of salicin, grandidentatin (Si et al, 2009), as well as potential cell wall structural components in roots, such as the monolignol precursors syringin.…”